Veerhuis

Veerhuis for the Earth

Henry is a patient, a-typical, creative entrepreneur, thinking up innovative concepts for more than thirty years. In 1994, he started with the first professional worldshop. In 2002, he founded -with help of the then unknown concept of crowdfunding-  the carsharing company Wheels4All (now MyWheels). Alongside his own enterprises Henry has been a chairman of Stichting Ecodorpen Nederland and he was a board member of the Fair Trade Organisation. Currently, Henry is retired. That is not to say that he sits back enjoying a well-deserved rest. No, he is still rather active. He keeps himself busy with activities in and around the Veerhuis, and even more so with placing the earth on the World Heritage List as well as changing the economy. 

Relations
Henry works patiently and confidently towards the goals he tries to reach. As an entrepreneur, he is rather interested in relations than in money. He sets up enterprises as part of communities, where people go about with each other in love and trust. Realistic and idealistic at once. In Henry’s vision, relations outdo assets, meaning an employer cannot go bankrupt. Linked to this, he tries be entrepreneur in a way that contributes to a transformation towards a healthy, social and ecological economy for the whole world.    

Testbed
The Veerhuis organizes workshops and readings, but receives summer tourists for a cup of coffee as well. The latter may sound irrelevant, but it is a essential in Henry’s way of thinking about relations. With crowdfunding, he managed to take in investors buying the Veerhuis, offering free coffee for life to every depositor putting in a minimum of 250 euros. The coffee serves as interest payed out in kind.

On the menu in the Goed Idee Café in the Veerhuis are, among other things, coffee and cake from the biological care farm Thedingsweert in Tiel as well as ice cream from Deeli, a bio-dynamic farm just outside of Varik. Besides the catering, there are a couple of sleeping accommodations. These rooms are being booked by tourists as well the people giving the reading and workshops. Right next to the Waal there are a few spots where one could park his or her camper for a friendly 8 euros a night. The little shop is called Village Trade Center. Here, products from the village and nearby surroundings are sold. One can think about biological walnut oil, tea, jam, herbal salves, books, Krenkelaar and de Krant van de Aarde (Paper of the Earth).

Work and experimentation are carried out from passion and the ambition to create a new economy

The Veerhuis is a place where anything can and will happen, without striving for a maximum profit. Work and experimentation carried out from passion and the ambition to create a new economy. We see the Veerhuis as a free space, but they themselves prefer the phrasing ‘Testbed for the new economy’ and ‘Knowledge house for a new economy’. Nowadays they simply call it ‘Veerhuis for the Earth’, thus without the word economy. That tends to make you think of money, while for Henry having fun and caring for the planet are more important.

Pieter Kooistra
Henry tells us that he has been coming at the Veerhuis for more than thirty years and that a special artist used to live here. Pieter Kooistra was not just a painter and sculptor, he also set up the first Kunstuitleen (art lending) in The Netherlands (1955) and wrote books about a new economy. The two books he published were Voor extra basisinkomen voor alle mensen (1983) en Het ideale eigenbelang (1995). In these books Pieter described the changing of the economy and the implementation of the basic income. With the Uno-income foundation he established, he actively began to lobby for the introduction of a world wide basic income.

In 1990, Henry accidentally met Pieter, in Hilversum. Immediately, it clicked between the two and not long afterwards Henry visited the Veerhuis, where Pieter had been residing and working since 1972. They spoke a lot about Pieter’s ideas regarding the place. Both preferred not to abruptly change the economy, but to provide a good alternative instead. Change evokes resistance; to Pieter and Henry it seemed more wise and peaceable to invite the current economy to move in a different direction by taking small steps. It would also be important to find a balance between the masculine and feminine, and to think not only from the head, but the heart too.

After many conversations Pieter asked Henry to create a business plan for him. Henry was enthusiastic, yet somewhat uncertain about approaching an artist with such a plan. Eventually, he struck up an idea to make a little carton box. It included a window, providing both a view of the inside and the outside. The outside represented the normal business plan, the inside the soul, the source. On either side are the words unity, time, organisation, energy, essence, nature and human. Henry’s underlying thought was that both sides ought to be in balance, since they belong together. Years later, he used this little box, which he had coined the UNO-box, to convince Triodos bank helping him to buy back the Veerhuis.

When Pieter Kooistra died in 1998, Henry was chairman of the foundation taking care of Pieter’s inheritance, including the Veerhuis. Then, a rich family invested in a thorough renovation of the house and took over the ownership, under the condition that Henry took up a place in the management as to maintain their inheritance. At a certain point, the family wanted to sell the property, leaving Henry with no clue on what to do. Finally, he decided to sell his own house and used the surplus value, a loan and a sum gathered through crowdfunding to buy the Veerhuis himself, in 2015.

Grond van Bestaan
Soon after, the idea took root to release the property and house it in a construction that forbids the land from ever being sold again. In 2020, a separate crowdfunding was set up to this purpose. The land was then granted to the foundation Grond van Bestaan, which by ways of their covenants rules out the possibility of selling the land. Grond van Bestaan uses the Community Land Trust (CLT) model, a radically different system of landholding that takes land off the market and places it in a commons that fulfils social, ecological and cultural values.   

In order to protect both the Veerhuis and the land, and to pass it on to next generations, a new form of ownership was developed: the threefold ownership

Threefold ownership
In order to protect both the Veerhuis and the land, and to pass it on to next generations, a new form of ownership was developed: the threefold ownership. Here, Grond van Bestaan is the lawful owner of the property. The second owner is the Henry, the entrepreneur. The third party is the community, meaning the customers and the neighbours. This model should secure the spirit of the Veerhuis.
The threefold ownership arose in collaboration with Damaris Matthijsen and Jac Hielema. They began in the Veerhuis back in 2015, with the course Samenlevingskunst (Societal art). Since then, interest in the programs and studies of their organisation Economy Transformers, has grown significantly. Also the book Vrij, Gelijk & Samenleven, which Damaris published in 2022, helped to push the concept of threefold ownership. In her book, she offers new ideas, notions and forms to work on a society and a world that is good for all the people on earth. Ze describes a clear path out of the system crisis and presents six key practices (‘de Zes sleutels’) to take action yourself, so that we can truly feel free, equal and together.
Central to this approach is the transformation of our concept of ownership and control of land, labor and capital. Not the market and state are leading, but we humans among ourselves. With the Deelgenootschap (Share society) as a form of cooperation, we can find our way back to love, trust, creativity and wholeness. In this way we learn to care for ourselves, each other and the earth from within.

Source
Almost all business plans out there set off with a mission and vision. In itself, there is nothing wrong with that, but the mission and vision usually lay beyond oneself. That lead Henry to ask: ‘But what burns from inside?’ What is the source inside yourself and the passion from which you act?’ It is important to name that motivation, because as long as that source stays clear, you can always adjust or return.
Henry’s own source sprung at ten years old, after the Kennedy murder. That was the moment he thought: ‘What is going on in the world?’ From that time, the link between peace and ownership has been the running thread through his life. After studying at Nyenrode Business University to learn about industrial circles, he realized that competition is just a battle that should be organized differently. That idea has become Henry’s source. 

The source of the Veerhuis (Stichting UNO Foundation) is helping people and organizations to realize a new regenerative economy. One that is based on a good balance between social, societal and ecological well-being. The Veerhuis reaches for a couple of goals in that regard. The first is to have the ‘Voice of the Earth’ ringing through the managements of organizations and companies, so that these can account for an ecological, social and economical balance. The second goal is to take land and enterprises off the market, so that money actually comes to serve the Earth. The third goal is growing Veerhuis towards a self-supporting organization with more power for the Voice of the Earth.

A Deelgenootschap is a form of alignment in which one does business from love and trust

DeelGenootschap
Founded by Henry, MyWheels was a cooperative association. The Veerhuis he meant to organize in another way. He didn’t want a structure with a management, members and their meetings during which they either eat cake or complain. No, Henry wanted something different, something new. That became a Deelgenootschap: a form of alignment in which one does business from love and trust, and connection springs from agreements instead of contracts. A organizing structure without a boss, with brothers and sisters. One where associates are equals among themselves, connected through a strong, shared intention: actualizing a human- and earth worthy organisation and society. All of them can start activities in the Veerhuis, provided that they draw from the Veerhuis source. During so called source meetings they activate each other. Together they are responsible for a healthy conduct of business, firmly anchored in the new economy of which the Veerhuis will be a figurehead.  

A Deelgenootschap is an organization construct you don’t need to pen down at the notary. In terms of official connection with the society there is Stichting UNO Foundation. Through this foundation, the subscription at the Kamer van Koophandel, a bank account and the administrive and fiscal processes are being dealt with.

There are tens of people rather actively involved with the Veerhuis. Around that core shell around 300 to 500 people, connected because they made an investment or because they, for example, come and help gardening a couple of times a year. Outside this circle are a 5000 more. These are the constituencies, people receiving the newsletters and showing interest in the activities.

The organization of practical matters happens through rings or commissions. In these rings there are people from the core and the first shell. They organise and take care of tasks such as the catering, the gardening, communication, the UNOversiteit and the management of Pieter Kooistra’s inheritance. There are few official meetings. Henry is convinced that you should give people confidence. Everybody is partner from passion and connection, and when something goes wrong, it is seen as a learning experience.

New words
Henry loves to think up new words and use them within the organization. New words disconnect from old systems and contribute to creating something new. One of these new words is happy helper. In the Veerhuis there are no volunteers; people who help with joy and passion, are happy helpers. Each of them strikes up an agreement about tasks to carry out and eventual compensations, in kind or money. The will to help reigns, only then come the bargains.

Sleipnir
Henry is of the belief that a construction such as the threefold ownership could help to take care of the Earth and each other. It is a dimension of which we barely come to hear in school. We learned languages, calculating and making career, but not how we do things together. Lots left to learn, now. Henry doesn’t mind people not always being in it from the start. When he started MyWheels, many doubted the concept of car sharing. People need time to let new ideas sink in. Sometimes, people do like the idea, but do not yet see themselves do it. It is all part of a new consciousness.
Entrepreneurship with the focus on relations instead of profits and chiffres d’affaires is not only a good way to jointly build something beautiful, it also diminishes stress and burn-out lamentations. If companies are no longer commodities and if profits no longer disappear with shareholders, there is more room for personal development and solidarity. That is also the reason why the Veerhuis is linked to Sleipnir. Sleipnir is a cooperation where tens of companies joined together and one supports another if necessary. They do that by means of a shared fund, to which the companies are expected to donate a part of their profits. There are no shareholders extracting money: it is all used to help each other. It is an alternative to the common market ways of thinking.

No, not Ruigoord, but the whole Earth should be on the World Heritage List

Heritage
Once, when Henry held a reading at Ruigoord, he heard somebody say that one ought to try and put Ruigoord on the UNESCO World Heritage List. That was the moment Henry thought: ‘no, not Ruigoord, but the whole Earth should be on the World Heritage List’. A noble thought, but he had no notion on how to make that work.

To materialize his idea he took a wheelbarrow filled with earth and strode into the stock exchange building in Amsterdam. A symbolic deed, expressing the perception of taking of the Earth off the market. Then Henry continued his way to the UNESCO office. In 2022, he took his spirits higher and walked himself and the barrow in 45 days from Varik to the UNESCO head office in Paris. Every day he stopped at a certain place. A school, a biological farmer, a doctor or a organization such as Terre de Liens in France. A fantastic journey that Henry undertook with lots of joy. It learned him that carrying out a idea over the horizon can work infectious and inviting.
The pilgrimage generated lots of attention in the media and was widely supported by many grassroots movements within and beyond Dutch borders. Besides articles and interviews in many papers, magazines, radio and television shows and a fair share of social media attention, the first ‘wheelbarrow journey’ resulted in a couple of people donating a piece of land. There were also 3000 trees replanted in France and a sure Earth telephone was devised. 
Placing the Earth on the world heritage list is an ambitious yet logical idea. If there is one thing we got to preserve well, it must be the planet on which we live. Taking care of the Earth is much more important than conserving a couple of old buildings. Alas, Henry’s plan is not easily feasible, since the UNESCO system is not set up in a way that the Earth can actually be placed on the list. Normally, there are three types of heritage to be put there: cultural, natural or a hybrid form of the two. That could be a building, a city or the Wadden Sea: not the Earth as a whole. The EU and UNESCO seemed to be charmed with the idea, but how to make it work is unclear for them as well.
Henry, of course, does not let this put him off. He keeps on spreading his word, organizing talks with politicians, policy makers and others who are interested. The following seven years he will walk his wheelbarrow to Paris a few times more. After that, he thinks of making a book or a documentary about the project. Even a wheelbarrow roadtrip in America is planned, and there others who signed up to do the walk in Romania, in Thailand and in Australia.